History of western medicine from Hippocrates to germ theory. In : Kiple KF editor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, A Pictorial History of Medicine. London: Spring Books, Nelson RA. Adept Alchemy. Chapt 4: Oroborus. Scheindlin S. The duplicitous nature of inorganic arsenic. Molecular Interventions ; 5 2 : A Handbook of Useful Drugs. Chicago, Press of the American Medical Association, Frith J. Syphilis — its early history and treatment until penicillin, and the debate on its origins.
J Military Veterans' Health ; 20 4 : The origin and antiquity of syphilis revisited: an appraisal of old world pre-Columbian evidence for treponeal infection. Yearbook Phys Anthropol Singer C, Underwood EA. A Short History of Medicine. Oxford: Oxford at the Clarendon Press, Huffman OV. Spirochaeta pallida or Treponema pallidum? JAMA ; 67 24 : De Souza EM.
A hundred years ago, the discovery of Treponema pallidum. An Bras Dermatol ; 80 5 : Paul Ehrlich — Biography. Salvarsan — the first chemotherapeutic compound. Chemistry in New Zealand ; 69 1 : Inglis B. A History of Medicine. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, Page Benedek TG.
Albert Neisser : Microbiologist and Venereologist. De Kruif P. Microbe Hunters. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, Burn JH. The Background of Therapeutics. London: Oxford University Press, The Treatment of Syphilis. Battersea, London undated. Steveding D. The development of drugs for treatment of sleeping sickness: a historical review.
Parasit Vectors ; 3: African trypanosomiasis: treatment. Blacklock DB. Arsenic in malaria. BMJ ; 2 : With brilliant insight, he even postulated that its antimicrobial activity might involve the binding of Salvarsan to sulfur groups on the microbes.
As toxicologists now know, arsenic — and many other metals — are strongly attracted to sulfur; some of the sulfur in human proteins is critical to biological function. Salvarsan became the first drug that was safe enough to be given to humans and to be truly effective against the dread spirochete bacteria that causes syphilis.
It was to be replaced immediately on the discovery of penicillin, but Salvarsan deserves its place in history. Many other organic arsenical drugs were eventually introduced for use against various bacterial or parasitic infections, but few survived the introduction of antibiotics.
In , it became known to Allied intelligence that the Germans had developed an organic blistering war gas containing arsenic, which was known by the code name of Lewisite. On contact with the skin the gas reacted with sulfur on keratin, a skin protein, to produce huge blisters that were made worse by the release of caustic hydrochloric acid, also produced by the chemical reaction.
The British response to this threat was an intensive research program that culminated in the discovery of a simple sulfur-containing organic molecule which was highly effective in inactivating Lewisite on the skin, since it attracted arsenic away from biologically more important sites.
Later it was given the generic name, dimercaprol. After the war, interest in dimercaprol continued, and in view of its low toxicity, it was tested against arsenic that had been taken internally. It was found to bind arsenic tenaciously and to hasten its excretion in the urine.
It thus became the first rationally developed chelating agent — a chemical trap that sequesters and disables toxins. It is also used in treating people with mercury and gold poisoning.
Even purely altruistic efforts have resulted in chaos because of arsenic. The water supplies of much of the impoverished nation of Bangledesh consisted until recently of shallow wells that were often polluted by animal and human wastes. International efforts were mounted to provide better water supplies by digging deeper wells into aquifers. Many of these wells ended up tapping water from geologic formations naturally high in arsenic.
As a result, thousands of people were poisoned. Natural arsenic contamination of drinking water supplies is also a problem in New Hampshire. Roger Smith PH. Death at Jamestown : Did the Jamestown colonists really die of starvation in the winter of — , or were they poisoned? A pathologist argues that a common arsenic poison known as ratsbane did them in. Dartmouth toxicologist Roger Smith has annotated several of these stories with technical background on the science behind the narratives.
Though the majority of arsenic-based pesticides are no longer used in agriculture or horticulture in the US, arsenic-based wood preservatives are still used in nonresidential construction. See more about arsenic and health in the list of CHE publications and Dig Deeper resources in the right sidebar. This information was written by Dr. CHE invites our partners to submit corrections and clarifications to this page. Please include links to research to support your submissions through the comment form on our Contact page.
View All Footnotes. CHE Blog posts related to arsenic. Developmental Endocrine Disruption and Neurotoxicity. Carla Ng. Supplement Science and Regulatory Challenges. See all webinars and calls. How to Donate. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Toxicological Profile for Arsenic. August Viewed August 7, Arsenic Compounds.
February 23, Brain M. How Semiconductors Work. Viewed August 8, US National Library of Medicine. Haz-Map: Glass Manufacturing. July Public Health Statement for Arsenic. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Viewed August 8, ; World Health Organization. Water-related diseases. Nail abnormalities: clues to systemic disease. American Family Physician. ChemNote: Arsenic Poisoning.
Environmental source of arsenic exposure. Food and Drug Administration. April 1, Arsenic in Apple Juice. November 6, Viewed August 7 Contamination of drinking-water by arsenic in Bangladesh: a public health emergency.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization , , 78 9 Arsenic in tube well water in Bangladesh: health and economic impacts and implications for arsenic mitigation. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. September 14, Drinking Water Arsenic Rule History. November 9, Chromated Copper Arsenate.
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